Opening of Tuscany LRT station marks end of rapid rail expansion

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi piloted the first LRT car into the Tuscany LRT station on Sunday, marking the end of expansion to the city’s rail network for the foreseeable future.Lorraine Hjalte
/ Calgary Herald

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi says a shortage of funding from upper levels of government means the city will not concentrate on improving rapid bus transit, after the official opening of the Tuscany LRT station on Sunday.Lorraine Hjalte
/ Calgary Herald

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi piloted the first LRT car into the Tuscany LRT station on Sunday, marking the end of expansion to the city’s rail network for the foreseeable future.Lorraine Hjalte
/ Calgary Herald

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The ribbon-cutting Saturday for the opening of the Tuscany LRT station also marks an end.

The construction spree that gave Calgary 17 new LRT stops since 2001 is over, leaving an unusual construction lull.

And a mayor won’t likely get to pilot a CTrain into another new station until the 2030s.

Since Naheed Nenshi took office, the money hasn’t flowed as fast and freely from upper levels of government. And with what dollars are there, his council has pursued special bus-only roads and lanes instead of continuing to slowly grow out the LRT network.

For almost the same price as the $123.3-million extension to Tuscany, Calgary Transit could build bus routes from downtown to Calgary’s southwest corner, a north crosstown route stretching over much of 16th Avenue N., and an east crosstown link that spans most of 52nd Street.

“With the limited funds we have right now, we decided that we want to do even more in more parts of the city,” Nenshi told reporters after publicly thanking other politicians for provincial and federal dollars that supported nearly the entire project.

The next LRT steps are dauntingly large for the city. The “green line” from Panorama Hills to downtown and to the southeast hospital will cost about $5 billion. A train extension to Calgary International Airport is pegged at $175 million: “That won’t be for a long while yet unless there’s really big money or something else comes up that makes that a priority,” Nenshi said.

Calgary Transit’s 30-year plan doesn’t envision any of those projects in this decade, and possibly some stations in the transit-starved southeast.

“We haven’t shown Calgarians what a real BRT is,” transit director Doug Morgan said in an interview, pointing to rapid bus-only routes in the Ottawa area and north of Toronto.

“You can operate a bus service much like an LRT, separate right-of-ways so there’s no delays, no mixed traffic . . . they can be just as efficient as rail, maybe not carry as many people, a really good solution to urban travel.”

Morgan conceded the public will always desire LRT, but the southeast-north green line will be the convenient precursor. The city plans to build bus-only roads along that corridor, and be able to convert the infrastructure to rail when greater funds materialize.

The next 10 years of council’s $52-million tax increase from last year is for a transit fund, but not a cent goes into train systems — it’s earmarked for the green line.

The first elements of that busway are a few years away, too, likely in 2017 or 2018, Morgan said Saturday.

Nenshi noted that buses cannot ferry as many people as LRT cars. But the vehicles, too, are cheaper.

Tuscany LRT, which opens for regular service Monday, is expected to handle around 10,000 northwest passengers daily.

It’s the first new station to open without an escalator descending to the platform, which the city explains will save energy and maintenance costs. The mayor said he found the lack of escalator “a little irritating” but the stairs will offer good exercise for able-bodied users.

jmarkusoff@calgaryherald.com

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